Art Crimes: Graffiti News and Events

Friday, January 2, 2015

I hope everyone is warm and safe and spreading love and peace on Earth somewhere.

Why no updates on Art Crimes lately?

The website is being lovingly rebuilt with modern code, thanks to Fabricatorz! This may take some time, so thanks for your patience. They are working on it now.

Please send thank-you pictures and notes for the Fabricatorz. They are an
open-source programming team who have volunteered to help with this
giant website effort. If you send stuff to me, I'll make sure
they get them. I want them to know how much we appreciate their help.

Why rebuild?

The website needs some future-proofing, and it also was getting difficult to maintain because it lacked a content-management system. The design has some limitations, as you know, because of its incredible age -- 20 years! Thanks to all the contributors who made that happen!.

What will the new website be like?

Well, it will continue to have the photos it had before, but it will be able to do more and be more flexible. It should be possible to show even more photos and graffiti art of many kinds, and to do it faster and better.

We'll have a better, more community-focused website where more people can be involved.

If you would like to help:

Home, home on the web. Art Crimes needs to raise funds for future hosting, system administration, and servers, or else it needs donated hosting, sysadmin, and servers. Our hosting is safe right now, it just will continue to cost money that the online store and my own contributions can't cover in the future, so the website needs a new plan.

I'd also like to talk with libraries who might like to host the historical version of the website and nonprofits or funding organizations who might like to work together.

This is a complex topic, so let's leave it at that for now, but if you
think you might be able to help with either fundraising or hosting
issues, please send info or ideas.

Social media support and contributions. I'm hoping to set up an Indiegogo and maybe a Patreon or something similar later this year. When that happens, I'll announce it on this blog and on Twitter @artcrimes1. When you see that call for action, please pass it along in your networks if you can.

Please continue to send photos. I'm very excited about
the photos we will publish in the future, and I'm continuing to
organize the unpublished ones people have already sent. If you want to
send more than 20MB of images, consider using something like wetransfer.com to send ZIP or RAR archives (archives are so much easier than individual images). I don't have a dropbox currently, but Google Drive could work.

Curate or contribute content in the future. It's not a job, it's participatory culture...collaborative art history! Please get in touch if you think you might like to participate in creating or curating content for graffiti.org in the future. If you're already blogging somewhere, I hope there will be new ways we can connect too.

It may be a few months before I can update Art Crimes again with new photos. I'm waiting for some good news from the software wizards who are working hard to build some new features and infrastructure for the website.

Related: it looks like Art Crimes will need to do some fundraising in 2015, so I would sure appreciate your help with that when the time comes.

Art Crimes is one of the very few 20-year-old websites still standing, so this is a good time to consider its future. The goal is to put the website on more solid footing in several ways, to try to futureproof it so people can enjoy Art Crimes and learn about worldwide graffiti art and history for many years to come.

As many of you know, the website has always struggled to stay online, despite a considerable amount of cash contributed by yours truly from time to time, because popularity is expensive. Serving up any kind of visual media is a financial balancing act.

I'll post more over the coming months about how you can support, if you're down to help.

Mostly I'll need help getting the word out.

Also if you represent a brand who might want to work with us on a fundraiser, please get in touch with some ideas. info@graffiti.org

World-renowned graffiti writers UTAH & ETHER take to the road and the rails in Finish InterRail, the premier release from Trespass Press.

The couple is internationally known for being two of the most prolific and cutting-edge artists within the graffiti genre. They have gained global notoriety for their signature vandalistic styles, which can be viewed on the streets, trains and metro systems of over 40 countries, spanning 4 continents.

Each of the 120 full-color pages in this zine document the adventure and spontaneity of their European holiday gone awry. Shot fully on 35mm film in the form of stolen disposable cameras, the images in this publication emanates a rawness and honesty that draws the viewer in to the world of UTAH & ETHER.

This weekend the IBUg is going to the next round! For the 9th time this unique festival transforms an industrial wasteland into a synthesis of the arts. Started 2006 by Tasso (Maclaim Crew) as a small and unofficial graffiti meeting in Meerane the project became a festival of international renown over the years, featuring artists from all over the world, fascinating art pieces, a colorful program and an unique atmosphere. In 2014 IBUg festival is taking place in Crimmitschau, the “city of a hundred chimneys”, for the first time – and this simultaneously in two locations: the former brothers Pfau cloth mill and the nearby area around Schützenplatz!

Since last Friday more than 80 artists - creative folks of the steady growing IBUg-family - will transform both locations into a total artwork by graffiti, paste ups, impressive murals, detailed illustrations, spectacular installations and multimedia projections within a one-week creative phase. There will be Zone56 (Glauchau), Flamat (Leipzig), Threehouse (Leipzig), HiFi (Dortmund), Quintessenz (Berlin) or Loomit (München) and international guests like Faunagraphic and Rocket (Great Britain), Amin (France), Duncan Passmore (Ireland), Pinche (Spain), Key Detail (Belarus), Akuma und Digo (Brasil), Alaniz (Argentina) or Benuz (Mexico), to just name a few.

The results of their work is gonna be displayed from Friday the 29th till Sunday the 31st of August as part of a festival called "IBUg fabric + leather“. The extensive program furthermore includes guided tours of the IBUg area and the historical production facilities of the west saxonian textile industry that not just shows multifaceted, high-standard art, but also let the visitors explore more than 130 years of industrial history. On Saturday numerous lectures about „street culture and creative industries" are given by taking the example of tree creative enterprises. The following Sunday experts discuss the question of „How do we want to live and work?“. Besides that the festival-weekend comes up with the exhibition "IBArt" of various artist´s artworks, movies, an art market, chillout area and a silkscreen printing workshop. Of course there´ll be the traditional IBUg-party – which is going down twice this year! Acts like DJ Marc Hype (Dusty Donuts, MPM Rec, Berlin), Franz! (Muna, Paracou, Thurania), Iknaz and Bear With Me (Das Konglomerat, Weimar), Beppo S. & Peter B. (Staubsound, Leipzig), Jahmica & die Obskuriosen (Zwangsvulgaristen, Leipzig) or DJ Sir Mole (Dresden) gonna be live on stage and will certainly inflame the mood to the boiling point.

Further information about IBUg: http://www.ibug-art.de
[The English site does not work for some reason, but it might auto-redirect you.]

"This year will mark the 10th annual PAINT LOUIS event
since its establishment in 1998. Paint Louis is a graffiti art/HipHop music
and dance event that is dedicated to showcasing the country's best HipHop artists
in approved public spaces.Paint Louis is
an all-ages event lasting 4days, featuring 300artists and over 1,000 attendees that come to appreciate
the art."

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DATES:Friday, August 29, 2014 to Monday, September 1, 2014

TIME:8:00am-8:00pm (and
times vary for nightly after parties)

LOCATION:The Flood Wall, located at Chouteau Ave. at S. Wharf
St., 63102.The Flood Wall is 1.9 miles
in length.

Susan says: This event is amazing. It's probably the biggest painting event in the USA. You should go. Some extra things you might want to take (see website for more info):

* water

* sunscreen

* hats

* bandanas

* ice

* hand cleaner

* towels (ice water->head and shoulders)

* ladders

* rollers and extensions

* snacks/picnic

* camera supplies

* sketchbooks

* stickers

* folding chairs you can easily carry

* umbrellas

What not to bring: giant SUVs. It's super hot and dusty and the road is narrow.

Phoenix, Arizona (October 2014) - Street/Gallery artist "Mad One" will team up with cartel lab to host and curate the annual "Sticker Phiends", a showcase of local and international adhesive, street and graff artists for yet another round. The show will feature adhesive art and other interactive activities, plenty of sticker giveaways, limited edition prints and other mixed medium works produced by showcasing artists.

There have been several Graffiti/Urban art themed shows throughout the valley over the past decade. This is one of a kind for sure; its name explains itself “Sticker Phiends” an array of street/gallery artists throughout the world have come together year after year to make this a must see show.

Mad One, a former based Arizona street/gallery artist, had the opportunity to lock down local and international artists both established and up and coming. “In the past shows we have had artists ranging from Arizona, New York to Brazil, Spain and beyond". Sticker Phiends is about the adhesive art movement and bringing awareness of stickers and how they have gone from the streets to a modern medium of art being displayed in today’s galleries.

-Artwork you would like to display please have the following included:

(Ready to hang, artist info and price) Reminder: the gallery will be taking 50% of sales so please price accordingly.

We would also like to request items to be donated so they could be given out over the course of the opening night like Tee-shirts, sticker packs etc.. If you would like to contribute anything specifically for the merch/sales area please indicate in package and or via communication (e-mail preferred)

If you have any questions regarding submissions/sponsoring the event or shipping please contact

G40 Art Summit is a yearly group art show that brings together world renown artists for a month long exhibit with a different theme every year. This year’s show focuses on artwork that goes beyond the traditional two dimensional canvas. Artists are challenged to approach their work in a multi dimensional format which will expand boundaries and grow possibilities. Artwork will include layered canvases, art on found objects, free standing pieces, and many more creative approaches to the challenge at hand. The exhibit will take place at Blind Whino for the second year running. The building’s many nooks and ample spaces provide the ideal backdrop for installations that will transform the space into living art.

Momentum Art Tech brings the gritty passion and often misunderstood graffiti world to life comic-book-style with Modern Urban Legends,
the first comic book series visualizing the realities and harshness of
graffiti-writing culture. This story, written by artist TEEL ONE, is
artistically created to open your eyes on this overshadowed society.

Hundreds
of books and magazines have told the story and documented graffiti
culture, but this is the first comic book series based on real life
stories from one of Chicago's
most well-known graffiti writers. The series portrays the challenges
its main character, RAZE faces in school, with his peers and living this
underground lifestyle. Creatively designed visuals support the story
with background tags and subtle references to past and current writers
and artists.

Modern Urban Legends is the first edition in this
series and was designed for both the graffiti writers and those looking
for more insight into this world. The ten-page story can be purchased
for $3 at the store or ordered by contacting Momentum Art Tech at 1-773-441-4842 or via email at Momentumarttech@gmail.com

BLADE

BLADE is considered “The King of Graffiti” because by
1980, after painting 5,000 wildly creative trains, he stopped counting.
Known and loved by the graffiti community, BLADE is not a myth but a
crowned head visionary who has painted a rich collection of artwork on
the street and on canvas.

BLADE’s first solo show in Los Angeles, this exhibit
features new large-scale spray paint and paint marker artworks on canvas
and NYC subway maps. Inspired by his own characters, letters, colors,
and abstract imagery from some of his own subway train masterpieces from
the 1970’s, the collection of artwork is a throwback to his
innovative style that influenced generations of contemporary artists all
over the world. Titles like “METALLIC MADNESS” and “METEROIC RAINBOW ”
are reminiscent of the silver spray paint and metal trains that BLADE
painted fiercely. His gifted perception for color and letter style are not
just nostalgic but defining for the golden era of subway art. In “JOINT
MAN ,” BLADE paints a character he originally created in 1976, at age
19, on an IRT Train. These new paintings are a look at the past fused
with BLADE’s ever-future imagination of today.

BLADE: KING OF GRAFFITI is a colorful hardbound
collectible book about BLADE, the prolific and legendary graffiti artist
from the Bronx. BLADE’s career has spanned over forty years and
writer/NY graffiti artist Chris Pape, aka FREEDOM , sits down with him
to recount his high’s and low’s in this 250 page book, packed with
vintage photos of his life and artwork. This book parallels the New York
graffiti movement almost from its inception, moving through its glory
years in the mid-1970s, when BLADE earned his title, and ending in the
global art scene, where he remains a major presence. BLADE helped New
York graffiti become internationally famous by making it look fun, and,
for reasons of quantity, quality, and, perhaps above all, for sheer
spirit, BLADE may very well be the most popular graffiti artist with his
peers. This recently released book is available for sale at THE SEVENTH
LETTER STORE for $39.99.

FREEDOM

FREEDOM grew up on the Upper West side of Manhattan and his name became cemented in graffiti history when he painted what became known as the Freedom Tunnel from 1980 - 1996. The tunnel underneath NYC was once FREEDOM ’s personal hall of fame, featuring many of his silver and black spray paint masterpieces, which included recreations of great artworks from history to specifically homage the importance and influence they have on graffiti art.

The city of New York and Amtrak have since buffed much of the Freedom Tunnel unfortunately but FREEDOM has found another a tunnel to paint in Rochester, upstate New York.

Inspired by his new work in that tunnel, THE ROCHESTER SERIES is a collection of 12” x 16” paintings on wooden panels, larger works on canvas, and traditional NYC wild style piece book drawings reinvented with added collage. Exploring pop objects from his youth, FREEDOM is mining vintage imagery as if he is sifting through subway grating looking for urban archaeology.

Using color in ways he never could in the 1980’s, these works are bright with exciting hues. FREEDOM paints iconic comic book heroes and classic products with graphic cartoony logos incorporating distressed backgrounds to bring into the gallery walls his musings from his current tunnel spray paint installations. In “THE THING ,” FREEDOM tags up historical NYC graffiti writers FLINT , MIKE 171, TAKI 183, and many others, again referencing the impact and gravity of his graffiti community, the writing idols of the walls.

BLADE has already told his life story through graffiti. Now, more than forty years into his career and armed with an incredible memory, BLADE sits down with Chris Pape to reflect on growing up in the Bronx in the turbulent 1970s, and recounts the highs and lows of his storied career, holding nothing back.

BLADE is considered “The King of Graffiti” because, by 1980, after painting 5,000 wildly creative trains, he stopped counting. This book parallels the New York graffiti movement almost from its inception, moving through its glory years in the mid-1970s, when BLADE earned his title, and ending in the global art scene, where he remains a major presence.

BLADE helped New York graffiti become internationally famous by making it look fun, and, for reasons of quantity, quality, and, perhaps above all, for sheer spirit, BLADE may very well be the most popular graffiti artist with his peers.

One hundred extraordinary artists representing many European cities, each with its own and often uniquely inspiring graffiti scene, including London, Amsterdam, Paris, and more.

This dense, sprawling portfolio is the product of “modern day documenter” Steam 156′s undisputed knowledge of European graffiti, and includes artist profiles, most written by the artists themselves, crew affiliations, locations, the year they started, details about style, influences, and characteristic strokes, contours, and angles, with hundreds of photos in all.

A medium of powerful, youthful, artistic expression, graffiti spread rampantly across Europe in the early 1980s–and has never ceased. Cities across the continent are now hosts to halls of fame, abandoned spaces, and streets full of incredible work by artists, featured in this book, who are carrying the art form boldly into the future and expanding its influence even further.

Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. is a family-owned, independent publisher of high-quality books. Since 1974, Schiffer has published thousands of titles on the diverse subjects that fuel our readers' passions. Visit www.schifferbooks.com to explore our backlist of 5,000+ titles.

Under Pressure is the largest and longest running event of its kind all
across North America. Under Pressure is a graffiti festival which
focuses on community development, artist empowerment as well as positive
youth development through ownership and responsibility of a shared
space. Currently heading into its nineteenth year this festival is the
longest running graffiti and hip hop festival in existence. The main
reason it has been able to be sustained for so long is because it is an
event done by the community for the community, everyone who works on
keeping it alive does so on a volunteer basis.

The festival
takes place over two days, during the first full-week weekend in August.
Throughout the two days stages are given over to performers from across
the country to keep the crowd lively and the bboy and bgirl battle
which always goes down on Sunday afternoon. There is a kid’s area for
the little ones to get creative and a skate ramp set up over the course
of the two days for open jams and a competition as well.